Adolf Brudes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Adolf Brudes

Adolf Brudes in a BMW 328 "Mille Miglia" at Nürburgring in 1976.
Born	(1899-10-15)15 October 1899 Groß Kottulin, German Empire
Died	5 November 1986(1986-11-05) (aged 87) Bremen, West Germany
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	German
Active years	1952
Teams	privateer Veritas
Entries	1
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1952 German Grand Prix
Last entry	1952 German Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career Years 1953 Teams Borgward GmbH Best finish DNF (1953)

Adolf Brudes (born October 15, 1899 – died November 5, 1986) was a famous German racing driver. He was also part of German nobility.

Adolf started his exciting racing journey on motorcycles in 1919. Later, he became a car racer. He even owned a dealership that sold BMW and Auto Union cars! This gave him many chances to race. He kept racing until 1968, which means his career lasted an amazing 49 years! He took part in one major Formula One World Championship race, the 1952 German Grand Prix. However, he did not score any championship points in that race.

Early Racing Days (Pre-War Career)

Adolf was born in a town called Kotulin. It was near Breslau, which is now known as Wrocław in Poland. Back in 1899, this area was part of the German Empire.

He began racing motorcycles very early, in 1919. From 1924 to 1927, he worked for a motorcycle company called Victoria. He was their main mechanic and also a test rider. In 1926, Adolf set a new Land Speed Record! He rode one of Victoria's motorcycles at 102.5 miles per hour (165 km/h).

Adolf wanted to race at an even higher level. So, in 1928, he started racing cars in addition to bikes. He bought a Bugatti Type 37A car. With this car, he mostly raced in hillclimbs in Poland. Hillclimbs are races where drivers try to get up a steep road as fast as possible. He won many of these races. At the same time, he opened his own BMW and Auto Union car dealership in Breslau.

By 1934, he had more racing cars, including a Bugatti Type 35B and an MG C-type. With his MG, he won a class victory at the 1934 Eifelrennen race at the famous Nürburgring track.

In 1936, Adolf had a chance to become an official driver for Auto Union. But another driver got the spot. Not giving up, he bought a BMW 328. He got some great results with it. This earned him a spot on the BMW factory team for the 1938 Spa 24 Hours race. He and his teammate, Paul Heinemann, finished fourth overall. They were second in their class. Adolf also finished third in the 1940 Mille Miglia race. This race was shorter than usual that year. He raced a BMW 328 spider with Ralph Röese as his co-driver.

Racing After the War (Post-War Career)

When World War II started, racing naturally stopped. After the war ended in 1945, Adolf Brudes had lost everything. His family had to move to a small town in eastern Germany where his brothers lived. He took many odd jobs. Then he moved to Berlin to find more work.

He found a job at a BMW dealership. There, he met an American officer named Alexander Orley who loved racing. Brudes was hired to get BMW cars ready for Orley to race.

Soon, Brudes started racing again himself. He drove one of Orley's special BMW cars. It was in this car that he took part in his only Formula One World Championship race, the 1952 German Grand Prix. Sadly, his race ended early after only five laps because of engine problems.

A few years before, he was invited by August Momberger to drive new Borgward sports cars. He helped them set new speed and endurance records in October 1953. He drove a very fast 1500cc sports car. In 1953, Borgward gave him a contract, and he became an official factory driver. When the team started racing internationally, Brudes was one of their drivers. Their first big event was the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Brudes's car ran out of fuel after just three hours of racing.

Adolf Brudes continued to race until 1968. His last race was the Taunus Hillclimb. He drove an Alfa Romeo Giulia and finished third in his class.

Racing Highlights

Here are some of Adolf Brudes's best racing results: